Herbie Rides Again

Herbie’s back

Tennessee Steinmetz’ aunt (Helen Hayes) is the new owner of Herbie and lives in a firehouse in San Francisco. A notorious real estate magnate (Keenan Wynn) wants her property to build a huge complex, but she won’t sell. When he sends his green lawyer nephew (Ken Berry) to persuade her, the nephew meets her displaced neighbor (Stefanie Powers) and changes sides. Can Herbie & Co. overcome the schemes of the dastardly mogul?

"Herbie Rides again" (1969) brings back the lovable Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own and a whole new cast. I like the fact that they completely changed direction and it has its points of interest, like the creative dream sequences and Herbie’s army, not to mention Berry and Powers. It’s cute and fun, but it’s probably my second least favorite of the franchise.

The best ones for me are “Herbie Goes Bananas” (1980), “The Love Bug” (1997) and “Herbie Fully Loaded” (2005) with the 1997 one arguably being my favorite because it has a compelling story and features the Dark Herbie and Alexandra Wentworth.

The film is short-and-sweet at 1 hour, 28 minutes and was shot in San Francisco and Paramount Ranch, Agoura, California.

GRADE: B-/C+

Helen Hayes is the single-minded "Mrs. Steinmetz". She is determined not to be forced from her alleged "firetrap" home by the mall-building millionaire "Hawk" (Keenan Wynn). Luckily she has "Nicole" (Stefanie Powers) to help out - and she proves especially useful when "Hawk" sends his gullible nephew "Willoughby" (Ken Berry) to try and charm the old woman from her home. Now she is the aunt of "Tennessee" (from "Love Bug" - 1969) and happens to be the new owner of "Herbie" and it's clear that our honourable VW is unwavering is a desire to help the old girl too. Battle lines are drawn and soon the wrecking balls are at the ready, the cleaning foam hoses are primed and we get ninety minutes of rather predictable slap-stick capers. It's not that this is a bad film, indeed both Hayes and the megalomanic Wynn are both quite good, it's just that there's nowhere near enough of our magical car, and what we do get is all just a bit routine. Berry is a relatively charm free foil for what limited humour there is and the story is all just a bit too thin and procedural. It comes across as a sequel for the sake of it, rather than because anyone involved had any passion for the project, and though perfectly watchable it is equally perfectly forgettable.